1973
Schaefer Qualifier and Lloyd Holt

Lloyd
Holt #16 battles Howard Disher #11, and Don McGinnis
#52

As
of 11:00 p.m. on August 3, 1998, another Syracuse
Qualifier was in the books and it was one of the
best races we've seen this year, especially for the
local drivers. Even though Alan Johnson won the
race, he did it in a local car owned by Mike
Maroney. However, the big news was that local
drivers Brian Stevens, Jim Begolo and Don McGinnis
won the qualifying spots for Syracuse. Even though
the format has changed it brought back one memory of
a driver in his own car, 25 years ago, who won
Merrittville's 100 lap Schaefer Qualifier, by the
name of Lloyd Holt. Lloyd piloted his own gold #15
big block coupe and went on to represent
Merrittville Speedway at Syracuse and was the first
local driver to both win the race at Merrittville
and also represent our local hopes for a win.

He did so by running a steady and calculating
race, driving with the likes of Will Cagles' #24.
Lady Luck wasn't on Cagles' side and Lloyd won the
race picking up the $1,200.00 cheque and a
guaranteed starting spot in the second annual
Schaefer International 100. This race seemed to be
the pinnacle of Lloyd's career but how did this
talented pilot start his career? Lets look back to
1957. Stock Car racing was a relatively new sport
and Merrittville Speedway was five years old. A
young Lloyd Holt along with brother in law Harvey
Hainer decided to build a jalopy, it was the new
entry level class at Merrittville Speedway.
Basically they took a stock Hudson with the big six
cylinder removed all the glass and trim, installed
roll bars and wife Betty painted the #23 on the
doors.

A young 14 year old crewman by the
name of Billy Mathews helped Lloyd and Harvey work
on the race car at the family farm. After
campaigning the big Hudson for a season, Lloyd moved
up to a ride offered by Ray Stevens in the J-15 race
car. The bright green and white car was more
competitive and after a season or two, Lloyd moved
in to contention as a front runner. For 1959, a
young 21 year old Lloyd Holt showed his talent -
winning the last jalopy race of the season and
finishing a close second to Bill Binning in the
final points standings. The rule of the jalopy
division stated that the top five points finishers
must move up to the Sportsman Division. Lloyd laid
off for the 1960 and 1961, pursuing his interest in
horses and returned in 1962 with a Sportsman coupe
#15, competing at Merrittville Speedway and Speedway
Park with brother in law Harvey Hainer and Billy
Mathews maintaining the car. From 1962 to 1968,
Lloyd, Ray, and Harvey campaigned various versions
of the #15 coupe.

Competing mostly on dirt,
but also running pavement. During the late 1960's
Lloyd and Ray campaigned a full bodied Falcon #15
painted orange and white. Ray and Lloyd would race
at Merrittville, but also compete at Ransomville,
Lancaster and move on to Rolling Wheels. During the
early 1970's Lloyd and his wife Betty would travel
Ontario and the U.S. campaigning their gold #15
coupe. He started to pattern his racing cars from
cars such as Will Cagles, and Buzzie Reutimann.
Lloyd experimented with coil over suspension and
patterned one of his coupes off of Cagles'. Lloyd
would often trailer his coupes early in the season
try some set ups with both coils and torsion bars.
Some of his racing exploits included Reading
Pennsylvania, as well as Canandaigua, but would
always return to Merrittville Speedway as his home
track.

For 1973, Lloyd Holt made
Merrittville Speedway his home track, collecting
DIRT points during the organization's infancy. It
was the success of 1973 that leaves a lasting
impression, as the #15 gold Chevrolet coupe would
represent Merrittville and Syracuse. If memory
serves me correct, Lloyd progressed well in the race
only to be involved in a mid race crash. By the mid
1970's Lloyd decided to retire as a driver, but both
he and his wife Betty continued their passion to
raise horses.

While his interest in racing
still shows today, his main interest today is in
raising cutting horses at his 20 acre farm near
Ozark Alabama. Recently, Lloyd and Betty were back
home near Jordan. I had a chance to visit with them
briefly. Once we started talking, it was apparent to
me that they both have a love of horses and still
maintain an interest in auto racing and some of
those people from Merrittville's past. It is with
pride that I am able to announce that through
Lloyd's generosity that both the Jerry Winger
Memorial Trophy dating back to 1959 and the John
Spencer Memorial from 1954 are being returned home
to Merrittville Speedway's Reunion Committee, as
guardians. If there were two races and awards that
reflect our racing heritage its these two awards. On
behalf of myself, Ted Renshaw, Bruce Swartz, Mark
Lovell, the Irvine Family, and all of Merrittville's
Alumni, we send a heart felt thank you. Sincerely,
Rick Kavanagh

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